...to start pondering about postgraduate academia and PhDs and the like?
I ask because I'm coming to university this fall and for some reason I really have my heart set on academia after I finish my degree (I like the idea of teaching and research, though not at secondary school level, hence ideally I'd like to be a lecturer), but I always get the impression there's no point of me thinking about that now.
I suppose university education is a completely different experience and -- despite the fact my subject looks absolutely mouthwatering on paper -- things could totally change in a couple of years. I'm already looking at a possible area of research at some English institutions and the possibility of doing a meteorology master's instead, followed by a PhD afterwards :o
Just to make this thread more relevant for discussion, for postgraduate students: how soon did you decide you wanted to go into postgraduate education? To PhD students, how early did you decide you wanted to do a PhD? Did you only get an idea of what area within your field until much later on?
You need to starting thinking about your application at the end of the 2nd year of your degree (assuming it's a 3 year course), especially if you want to sign up for a research masters (e.g. an MPhil or MSt) instead of a taught MA, because you will need that summer vacation to really plan out your thesis proposal, and how that relates to your future doctoral research. You also need to get your tutors onside so that, come funding-application time, they're willing to write you amazing references.
The timetable should go something like this:
End of 2nd year - think about research topic and schmooze tutors.
Beginning of final year - start applying to postgrad courses, for which you will need a research proposal. Don't feel obliged to remain at the same university if you feel that another institution offers a more congenial research environment. Secure 2 reliable tutors as referees.
January of final year - begin the funding application process, which is a major headache!
May of final year - funding deadline (though your institution will probably have an earlier deadline, around March/April).
August of that same year - find out about funding!
It's worth bearing a couple of things in mind about planning finances. If you don't get funding (and many very good people don't ), you might want to take a year out to work, save up tuition fees, and then go back (as I did). Also worth looking at
which universities offer scholarships and studentships in your subjects.
EDIT: Be flexible as well - I was advised at the last minute to change my MPhil subject to a slightly different one, because it would give me better training in working with my particular source material. Listen to your tutors, because they've been through the whole process themselves. But if you want to do postgraduate study, and you are good enough, then by all means do, because it's great fun and much more intellectually stimulating than... well, many other career paths
Last edited by Milady de Winter : 18-05-2008 at 17:13.
...to start pondering about postgraduate academia and PhDs and the like?
I ask because I'm coming to university this fall and for some reason I really have my heart set on academia after I finish my degree (I like the idea of teaching and research, though not at secondary school level, hence ideally I'd like to be a lecturer), but I always get the impression there's no point of me thinking about that now.
I suppose university education is a completely different experience and -- despite the fact my subject looks absolutely mouthwatering on paper -- things could totally change in a couple of years. I'm already looking at a possible area of research at some English institutions and the possibility of doing a meteorology master's instead, followed by a PhD afterwards :o
Just to make this thread more relevant for discussion, for postgraduate students: how soon did you decide you wanted to go into postgraduate education? To PhD students, how early did you decide you wanted to do a PhD? Did you only get an idea of what area within your field until much later on?
Good on you for thinking about it now! I realised it was what I wanted to do at the end of my second year and I really wished I'd known earlier. My first two years of university were pretty aimless and as such I didn't try too hard with my grades etc. If you have a clear purpose and aim at this point then you should do great!
You're in luck with Geophysics since you don't really need an MSci or MSc to go straight to a PhD and if you do decide to do an MSc in Geophysics then there's *lots* of funding available.
I wouldn't worry to much about what you'd like to research and go into just yet. The important thing is that you have an aim to do a PhD, now the next few years will be about getting the grades and finding out what you want to do research in. As you will probably have seen, PhD thesis titles are really *very* specific so you'll want to give it some time to decide what you want to go in.
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Re: How early is too early...
Originally Posted by trm90
To PhD students, how early did you decide you wanted to do a PhD?
I did a year in industry as part of my undergraduate degree. It was during this time that I started thinking about doing a PhD. Saying this, I didn't actually start doing a PhD until 10 years later.
Originally Posted by trm90
Did you only get an idea of what area within your field until much later on?
I had some general ideas about the sort of things that interested me and serendipitously came across a studentship advertised for something which, at first glance, was unrelated. After chatting to the ad's designated contact (who is now my supervisor) about my interests and their relationship with the perceived research, I managed to find some areas of common interest. I submitted a research proposal based on these, and the rest is history...
You should feel free to ponder it whenever you like, but wait for two years or so before deciding to pursue it definitively, you don't know anything your first year. I remember looking at PhD programs in political science a term into my first year, and ended up doing history instead.
I decided to do a postgraduate program last November or so, after graduating and seeing my first choice plan crumble before my eyes and seizing on this as opposed to law. Some people plan for it from the beginning, some people just kind of end up with it. It really depends.
It's alright to think and plan early but don't be too obsessive about and look out for other opportunities as well.
I think there's a huge difference between being generally curious about postgraduate studies and what they might involve and actually attempting to measure out your life in coffee spoons, mapping everything out several years in advance and being completely set on particular topics or particular universities, because chances are that your interests will change. A lot of people change their minds along the way. To give you a few random anecdotal examples, a friend of mine who originally chose biology because she wanted to do a PhD on fungus () ended up as a geneticist; another friend who was very keen on doing an MRes on modern literature is now planning to become a teacher for English as a foreign language; yet another started out with an interest in pure maths and is now doing a PhD in statistics; my own main interest shifted from late 19th/early 20th-century to late medieval/early modern literature (and I've also found myself drifting back towards history, after starting out with a joint history degree in my first undergraduate degree and deciding it wasn't for me after a year).
Originally Posted by trm90
Just to make this thread more relevant for discussion, for postgraduate students: how soon did you decide you wanted to go into postgraduate education?
Shortly after starting at university, but it was really just a general sense of wanting to go on to do "research". Nothing concrete. Later on, I was thinking about doing something late 19th/early 20th-century (possibly Empire-related).
To PhD students, how early did you decide you wanted to do a PhD?
(Technically I'm not a PhD student yet, but I'll just answer this one anyway)
Again, fairly early on, but without having anything too definite in mind at that point.
Did you only get an idea of what area within your field until much later on?
Only about halfway through my second year, when I discovered I actually found the medieval and Renaissance papers far more exciting than the Empire-stuff.
A very real advantage of deciding this early is that you can spend your summers in between your years at university doing research - whether thats funded or not of course is a different matter. I would say that if you can get some research experience your chances of obtaining funding for a PhD are substantially increased (not just from the experience side but also shows you were interested way back then and you're not just becoming a postgraduate to continue as a student). I did summer research between years 2 and 3 and I believe it was integral in my secural of funding.
So overall I'd say its a definate plus to know you want to continue into research this early and you can definitely use it to your advantage.
On a related topic, if you emailed a potential PhD supervisor more than a month ago, and they haven't replied at all, is it OK to chase them up?
I don't see why not! The only barrier I could see would be that the department has policies against contacting supervisors in advance (I know other Oxford departments do, don't know if yours is the same). If not, and after chasing it up you find that the academic just forgot, that in itself is worth knowing as an indication that you ought to look for another supervisor (if they can't even respond to an email, they're unlikely to be very good at pastoral support...).
I don't see why not! The only barrier I could see would be that the department has policies against contacting supervisors in advance (I know other Oxford departments do, don't know if yours is the same). If not, and after chasing it up you find that the academic just forgot, that in itself is worth knowing as an indication that you ought to look for another supervisor (if they can't even respond to an email, they're unlikely to be very good at pastoral support...).
It's actually the genetics department at Leicester, and I think they encourage you to contact potential supervisors Certainly the prospectus said I could phone up and arrange a visit to this guys lab if I wanted (but I won't be able to do that til July, and I wanted to do something before then). I also intend to send to Cambridge's Sanger Institute, and I think they encourage you to get in touch. But what you said about pastoral care is definitely worth bearing in mind!
As for the department in Oxford I'm interested in - I got myself a Wellcome Trust scholarship to do a project for them this summer (not as a compulsory part of my course, but because I want the lab experience), so they'll know me already if I apply, and hopefully I'll have a better idea of what they, at least, are looking for.
Should I say at the top of the email "I don't know if you had the chance to read/reply to my last email?" or just send the same email again?
Academics are usually ludicrously busy and badly organised to boot. My supervisor takes ages to reply to my emails, but he's still a great supervisor. They're almost certainly not ignoring you - just pester then politely until you get a response.
Thanks for your message and your interest in my lab, and sorry for
the delayed reply.
I would certainly be pleased to receive an application from you - you
sound an enthusiastic and committed student with interests that would
coincide well with ours. I don't have any earmarked PhD studentships
for 2009, but the Department has some Research-Council-funded
studentships each year which are competitively assigned following
interview, and for which you would be a good candidate.
This forum is for the discussion of postgraduate study and courses.
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How early is too early...
), you might want to take a year out to work, save up tuition fees, and then go back (as I did). Also worth looking at 
) ended up as a geneticist; another friend who was very keen on doing an MRes on modern literature is now planning to become a teacher for English as a foreign language; yet another started out with an interest in pure maths and is now doing a PhD in statistics; my own main interest shifted from late 19th/early 20th-century to late medieval/early modern literature (and I've also found myself drifting back towards history, after starting out with a joint history degree in my first undergraduate degree and deciding it wasn't for me after a year).
)
Certainly the prospectus said I could phone up and arrange a visit to this guys lab if I wanted (but I won't be able to do that til July, and I wanted to do something before then). I also intend to send to Cambridge's Sanger Institute, and I think they encourage you to get in touch. But what you said about pastoral care is definitely worth bearing in mind!
